Billy Ocean

Leslie Sebastian Charles (born 21 January 1950), known professionally as Billy Ocean, is a Trinidadian-born British singer and songwriter.

Ocean was born on 21 January 1950 in Fyzabad, Trinidad and Tobago, to Hainsley Charles, a Grenadian musician, and his wife Violet.

He moved to Romford, Essex, England, when he was 10 years old, shortly before Trinidad and Tobago became independent in 1962.

He was exposed to music at an early age.

During his teenage years, he sang regularly in a London nightclub while also working as a tailor in London's Savile Row.

He was discovered by his first manager, John Morphew, who recorded a double A-side single at Pye Studios in London with a full orchestra.

However, the ballad-singing style of Ocean was going out of fashion, and Morphew was unable to get any major label to release it.

It remains unreleased.

Ocean's father — who had countersigned the management contract as Ocean was underage — asked Morphew to release him from the recording contract, which he did without penalty.

In 1969, he joined a local band, the Shades of Midnight, playing in the Shoreditch area of London.

He recorded "Nashville Rain", his first single, backed with "Sun in the Morning", in 1971 for Spark Records under the name Les Charles, and for two years fronted a studio band called Scorched Earth, with whom he released "On the Run" backed with "Let's Put Our Emotions in Motion" in 1974.

In an interview with Myf Warhurst on ABC Radio Melbourne, Ocean stated that the story of his stage name being taken from the local Ocean Estate, Stepney in London's East End, where he was living at the time, was incorrect.

According to the interview, the name was derived from a local football team that was in his home town in Trinidad and Tobago, who called themselves "Oceans 11".

Between 1976 and 1988, he had a series of hit songs in the UK and internationally.

After releasing several recordings under other stage names, he achieved breakthrough success with the 1976 single "Love Really Hurts Without You".

It was the second single released under the stage name Billy Ocean and peaked at no. 2 in the UK and no. 3 in Australia.

Later that year, he achieved two additional top 20 singles in the UK.

In 1976, he recorded his debut studio album Billy Ocean, with its first single release, "Love Really Hurts Without You", charting at no. 2 on the UK Singles Chart and no. 22 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

He enjoyed club success from the songs "Are You Ready" and "Stay the Night" from his second studio album City Limit — both of which were later covered by La Toya Jackson.

More successes ensued, including "L.O.D. (Love on Delivery)".

He also wrote and composed songs for other artists.

Between 1976 and 1982, Ocean released four studio albums: Billy Ocean (1976), City Limit (1980), Nights (Feel Like Getting Down) (1981) and Inner Feelings (1982) through his record label GTO, none of which scored success on any musical charts, aside from his biggest single up to that point, 1976's "Love Really Hurts Without You", which was a top 40 and a top 10 hit in both the UK (no. 2) and the U.S. (no. 22).

In 1977, his single "Red Light Spells Danger" also peaked at no. 2.

As Sony Music acquired GTO Records in 1978, Ocean was shifted to Jive from Epic, in which he received a second breakthrough in his career in the early 1980s.

In 1981, he gained an entry on the U.S. R&B chart with "Nights (Feel Like Getting Down)".

After a period of limited chart success, he released the single "Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)" in 1984.

In the UK, the song peaked at no. 6. In the U.S., it entered the Billboard Hot 100 at no. 85 but peaked at no. 1 10 weeks later.

Late 1984 saw the release of his fifth studio album Suddenly and its main single, "Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)" becoming successes on the charts.

"Caribbean Queen" became Ocean's first no. 1 single on both the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Black Singles charts in late 1984, and the album debuted in the top ten, peaking at no. 9 on both the US Billboard 200 and the UK Albums Chart simultaneously in the U.S. and UK.

Suddenly reached gold in the UK, and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Ocean won the 1985 Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for the song.

It also charted in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and across Europe under three different titles.

Across the next three years, Ocean accumulated a series of international hit singles.

Released in 1985, "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going" peaked at no. 1 in the UK and no. 2 in the U.S. the following year.

In the same year, he achieved an American no. 1 with the single "There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)".

In 1988, his single "Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car" reached no. 1 in the U.S. and no. 3 in the UK.

In recognition of his success and influence, Ocean has received a number of awards.

In 2002, he was presented with an honorary doctorate of music by the University of Westminster.

In 2010, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the MOBO Awards.

The following year, he became a Companion of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.